Big changes ahead for Santa Cruz County needle exchange

Santa Cruz >> The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday proposed sweeping changes to a controversial county-run needle exchange, including reducing hours, restarting a mobile distribution program and even erecting a fence around its Emeline Avenue clinic.

The wide-ranging set of ideas would be considered in June and represents the board's most significant steps after the county took over the program a year ago amid an ongoing community controversy about the number of discarded needles found in parks and on beaches.

"What happens in the neighborhoods is equally as important as what happens in the front end with the (intravenous) drug users," board Chair Zach Friend said.

The most significant suite of changes was floated by Supervisor Neal Coonerty, who praised the county's stewardship of a program it took over from a volunteer group last April, which includes the public dissemination of information on the number of needles collected and handed out.

"I think it's the appropriate time to make some adjustments," Coonerty said.

Coonerty proposed reducing the number of days the exchange operates at the county health clinic from five days a week to two. With Emeline Avenue neighbors furious about a large number of discarded needles, Coonerty also wants to explore restarting home delivery and a mobile distribution program, as well as further limits and reporting requirements on the county's one-to-one needle exchange policy.

Representatives of several local nonprofits, including the Santa Cruz AIDS Project, spoke in favor of maintaining the program. But many neighbors remain frustrated, even bringing needles to Tuesday's hearing and suggesting efforts to control the problem could be futile.

"Asking an addict to dispose of needles properly is like asking a drunk driver to drive safe," said local resident Kim Salisbury.

Since the county took over, it has handed out more than 165,000 needles to 876 individuals, and has taken back more than 170,000. It also has collected an estimated 67,000 needles through two collections kiosks, with Coonerty wanting to look at more.

While a committee of the Santa Cruz City Council plans to explore that and other needle program-related ideas, Mayor Lynn Robinson did not seem receptive to more collection sites in her city.

"I'm interested in other jurisdictions having kiosks right now," Robinson said. "Santa Cruz has a kiosk now, and it's at the county (clinic)." Supervisor Bruce McPherson suggested looking at the cost of fencing in all or part of the Emeline Avenue campus, providing an additional buffer between the surrounding neighborhood. And Supervisor John Leopold asked county lawyers to draft an ordinance requiring local pharmacies to take back used needles.

The public safety advocacy group Take Back Santa Cruz said it has identified more than 4,000 spent needles found around the county — and especially Santa Cruz — in the past 16 months.

It is the scope of the county's drug problem that seems to be vexing to locals, with the county having spent more than $170,000 on the needle program since taking over.

Despite serving a much larger population, Santa Clara County's needle exchange served just 376 individuals during the most recent fiscal year, handing out more than 121,000 needles. However, Santa Clara County's fixed distribution site is open just 10 hours a week, and one official there estimated it serves just 30 percent of the county's injection drug users.